Hn*'  HKmufiu-y,  «.•  ''X*.-'ftwii  «•  V '  ■ 


NALUSKA 


u? 


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- 


JUNALUSKA 


BYRD     PRINTING    CO. 
ATLANTA 


Almost  nothing  had  been  written 
of  Cherokee  history  until  1897- 
'98,  and  many  details  and  inci- 
dents in  the  life  of  Junaluska  are 
not  recorded.  A  full  account  of 
the  battle  of  Horseshoe  Bend  and 
many  causes  of  the  removal  to 
the  West  are  given  because  of 
the  important  part  they  play  in 
his  life.  I  acknowledge  my  in- 
debtedness to  Mr.  James  Mooney, 
United  States  Ethnologist,  and 
to  others  who  have  written  short 
appreciations  of  Lake  Junaluska. 

Maude  McCulloch, 
Waynesville,  N.  C. 


<U    JL 


JUNALUSKA 


S  a  rule  Indian  children  are  unnamed 
until  several  months  old,  and  then 
are  generally  named  by  one  of  the 
grandparents.  Some  names  are  de- 
rived from  some  circumstance  of 
birth,  others  from  a  dream,  and 
many— particularly  among  the  Cher- 
okee— are  hereditary.  Any  of  these  may  be 
changed  repeatedly  in  after  life. 

In  early  life  Junaluska  was  known  as  GiiY- 
kala'ski.  The  name  refers  to  something  habitu- 
ally falling  from  a  leaning  position.  He  was 
born  about  the  year  1758,  and  no  one  knows 
why  this  name  was  given  him. 

The  Creeks  were  hereditary  enemies  of  the 
Cherokee.  On  the  outbreak  of  the  Creek  war 
in  1813,  Gul'kala'ski  raised  a  party  of  warriors 
to  go  down,  as  he  boasted,  "to  exterminate  the 


JUNALUSKA 


Creeks."  John  Preston  Arthur,  in  his  "His- 
tory of  Western  North  Carolina,"  states  that, 
1  'at  first,  he  failed  to  keep  his  promise."  Not 
meeting  with  success,  he  announced  the  result, 
according  to  the  Cherokee  custom,  at  the  next 
dance  after  his  return  in  a  single  word,  detsinu'- 
lahufigu',  "I  tried,  but  could  not,"  given  out  as 
a  cue  to  the  song  leader,  who  at  once  took  it  as 
the  burden  of  his  song.  Thenceforth  Gul'kala'- 
ski  was  known  as  Tsunu'lahufi'ski,  "One  who 
tries,  but  fails. "  Tsunu'lahufr\ski  was  cor- 
rupted by  the  whites  to  Junaluska. 

Tsunu'lahufi'ski  distinguished  himself  as  a 
great  warrior  at  the  battle  of  Horseshoe  Bend, 
Tallapoosa  County,  Alabama,  where  the  Creeks 
were  reported  to  have  collected  in  great  force. 
At  this  place,  known  to  the  Creeks  as  Tohopki 
or  Tohopeka,  the  Tallapoosa  river  made  a  bend 
so  as  to  inclose  some  eighty  or  one  hundred 
acres  in  a  narrow  peninsula  opening  to  the 
north.  On  the  lower  side  was  an  island  in 
the  river.  Across  the  neck  of  the  peninsula  the 
Creeks  had  built  a  strong  breastwork  of  logs, 
behind  which  were  their  houses,  and  behind 
these  were  a  number  of  canoes  moored  to  the 
bank  for  use  if  retreat  became  necessary.  The 
fort  was  defended  by  a  thousand  warriors,  with 
whom  were  also  about  three  hundred  women 


JUNALUSKA 


and  children.  General  Andrew  Jackson's  force 
numbered  about  two  thousand  men,  including, 
according  to  his  own  statement,  five  hundred 
Cherokee.  He  had  two  small  cannon.  The  mas- 
sacre occurred  on  the  morning  of  March  27, 
1814. 

General  Jackson  detailed  General  Coffee,  with 
the  mounted  men  and  nearly  the  whole  of  the 
Indian  force,  to  cross  the  river  at  a  ford  about 
three  miles  below  and  surround  the  bend  in 
such  manner  that  none  could  escape  in  that 
direction.  Jackson,  with  the  rest  of  his  force, 
advanced  to  the  front  of  the  breastwork  and 
planted  his  cannon  upon  a  slight  rise  within 
eighty  yards  of  the  fortification.  He  then  di- 
rected a  heavy  cannonade  upon  the  center  of 
the  breastwork,  while  the  rifles  and  muskets 
kept  up  a  galling  fire  upon  the  defenders  when- 
ever they  showed  themselves  behind  the  logs. 
The  breastwork  was  very  strongly  and  com- 
pactly built,  from  five  to  eight  feet  high,  with 
a  double  row  of  portholes,  and  so  planned  that 
no  enemy  could  approach  without  being  exposed 
to  a  crossfire  from  those  on  the  inside.  After 
about  two  hours  of  cannonading  and  rifle  fire 
to  no  great  purpose,  a  company  of  spies  and  a 
party  of  the  Cherokee  force  crossed  over  to  the 
peninsula  in  canoes  and  set  fire  to  a  few  of  their 


JUNALUSKA 


buildings  there  situated.  They  then  advanced 
with  great  gallantry  toward  the  breastwork 
and  commenced  firing  upon  the  enemy.  Find- 
ing that  this  force,  notwithstanding  the  deter- 
mination they  displayed,  was  wholly  insufficient 
to  dislodge  the  enemy,  Jackson  determined  to 
take  possession  of  their  works  by  storm. 

Coffee  had  taken  seven  hundred  mounted 
troops  and  about  six  hundred  Indians,  of  whom 
five  hundred  were  Cherokee  and  the  rest 
friendly  Creeks,  and  had  come  in  behind,  hav- 
ing directed  the  Indians  to  take  position  se- 
cretly along  the  bank  of  the  river  to  prevent 
the  enemy  from  crossing. 

According  to  the  official  report  of  Colonel 
Gideon  Morgan,  who  commanded  the  Cherokee, 
and  who  was  himself  severely  wounded,  the 
Cherokee  took  the  places  assigned  them  along 
the  bank  in  such  regular  order  that  no  part 
was  left  unoccupied,  and  the  few  fugitives  who 
attempted  to  escape  from  the  fort  by  water 
"fell  an  easy  prey  to  their  vengeance."  Finally, 
seeing  that  the  cannonade  had  no  more  effect 
upon  the  breastwork  than  to  bore  holes  in  the 
logs,  some  of  the  Cherokee  plunged  into  the 
river,  and  swimming  over  to  the  town  brought 
back  a  number  of  canoes.  A  part  crossed  in 
these,  under  cover  of  the  guns  of  their  compan- 


JUNALUSKA 


ions,  and  sheltered  themselves  under  the  bank 
while  the  canoes  were  sent  back  for  reenforce- 
ments.  In  this  way  they  all  crossed  over  and 
then  advanced  up  the  bank,  where  at  once  they 
were  warmly  assailed  from  every  side  except 
the  rear,  which  they  kept  open  only  by  hard 
fighting. 

The  Creeks  had  been  fighting  the  Americans 
in  their  front  at  such  close  quarters  that  their 
bullets  flattened  upon  the  bayonets  thrust 
through  the  portholes.  This  attack  from  the 
rear  by  five  hundred  Cherokee  diverted  their 
attention  and  gave  opportunity  to  the  Tennes- 
seeans,  Sam  Houston  among  them,  cheering 
them  on,  to  swarm  over  the  breastwork.  With 
death  from  the  bullet,  the  bayonet  and  the 
hatchet  all  around  them,  and  the  smoke  of  their 
blazing  homes  in  their  eyes,  not  a  Creek  war- 
rior begged  for  his  life.  When  more  than  half 
their  number  lay  dead  upon  the  ground, 
the  rest  turned  and  plunged  into  the  river, 
only  to  find  the  banks  on  the  opposite  side 
lined  with  enemies  and  escape  cut  off  in 
every  direction.  Very  few  ever  reached  the 
bank,  and  that  few  were  killed  the  instant  they 
landed.  From  two  hundred  and  fifty  to  three 
hundred  of  the  enemy  were  buried  under  water 
and  were  not  numbered  with  the  dead  that  were 


8  JUNALUSKA 


found.  Some  swam  for  the  island  below  the 
bend,  but  here  too  a  detachment  had  been 
posted  and  "not  one  ever  landed." 

Jackson  says:  "The  enemy,  although  many 
of  them  fought  to  the  last  with  that  kind  of 
bravery  which  desperation  inspires,  were  at 
last  entirely  routed  and  cut  to  pieces.  The  bat- 
tle may  be  said  to  have  continued  with  severity 
for  about  five  hours,  but  the  firing  and  slaugh- 
ter continued  until  it  was  suspended  by  the 
darkness  of  night.  The  next  morning  it  was 
resumed  and  sixteen  of  the  enemy  slain  who 
had  concealed  themselves  under  the  banks." 

About  three  hundred  prisoners  were  taken, 
of  whom  only  three  were  men.  Jackson  states 
that  not  more  than  twenty  Creeks  could  have 
escaped.  The  defenders  of  the  Horseshoe  had 
been  exterminated. 

On  the  other  side  the  loss  was  twenty-six 
Americans  killed  and  one  hundred  and  seven 
wounded,  eighteen  Cherokee  killed  and  thirty- 
six  wounded,  five  friendly  Creeks  killed  and 
eleven  wounded.  It  will  be  noted  that  the  loss 
to  the  Cherokee  was  out  of  all  proportion  to 
their  numbers,  their  fighting  having  been  hand 
to  hand  work  without  protecting  cover.  In  view 
of  the  fact  that  only  a  few  weeks  before  Jackson 
had   been   compelled  to     retreat    before     the 


JUNALUSKA 


Creeks,  and  that  two  hours  of  artillery  and  rifle 
fire  had  produced  no  result  until  the  Cherokee 
turned  the  rear  of  the  enemy  by  their  daring- 
passage  of  the  river,  there  is  truth  in  the  claim 
of  Junaluska  that  they  saved  the  day  for  Jack- 
son, and  thus  there  was  fulfilled  in  a  measure  the 
boast  of  Junaluska  that  he  would  ' '  exterminate 
the  Creeks,"  because  he  rendered  such  val- 
uable assistance  to  Jackson  in  breaking  the 
chief  arm  of  that  intrepid  nation  in  the  battle 
of  Horseshoe  Bend.  In  view  of  that  achieve- 
ment his  name  now  signifies  ' '  The  Undaunted. ' ' 
In  the  number  of  men  actually  engaged  and  the 
immense  proportion  killed,  this  ranks  as  the 
greatest  Indian  battle  in  the  history  of  the 
United  States,  with  the  possible  exception  of 
the  battle  of  Mauvila,  fought  by  the  same  In- 
dians in  DeSoto's  time.  The  result  was  deci- 
sive.   The  Creek  war  was  at  an  end. 

Not  many  years  passed  before  the  Cherokee 
began  to  hear  the  first  low  muttering  of  the 
coming  storm  that  was  soon  to  overturn  their 
whole  governmental  structure  and  sweep  them 
forever  from  the  land  of  their  birth.  In  No- 
vember, 1828,  Andrew  Jackson  was  elected 
President  of  the  United  States.  He  was  a  fron- 
tiersman and  Indian  hater.  His  position  was 
well  understood,  and  there  is  good  ground  for 


io  JUNALUSKA 

believing  that  the  action  at  once  taken  by 
Georgia  was  at  his  suggestion.  A  month  after 
his  election,  Georgia  passed  an  act  annexing 
that  part  of  the  Cherokee  country  within  her 
chartered  limits  and  extending  over  it  her  juris- 
diction ;  all  laws  and  customs  established  among 
the  Cherokee  were  declared  null  and  void,  and 
no  person  of  Indian  blood  or  descent  residing 
within  the  Indian  country  was  henceforth  to  be 
allowed  as  a  witness  or  party  in  any  suit  where 
a  white  man  should  be  defendant.  The  act  was 
to  take  effect  June  1, 1830.  The  whole  territory 
was  soon  after  mapped  out  into  counties  and 
surveyed  by  state  surveyors  into  "land  lots" 
of  160  acres  each,  and  "gold  lots"  of  40  acres, 
which  were  put  up  and  distributed  among  the 
white  citizens  of  Georgia  by  public  lottery,  each 
white  citizen  receiving  a  ticket.  Every  Cher- 
okee head  of  a  family  was,  indeed,  allowed  a 
reservation  of  160  acres,  but  no  deed  was  given, 
and  his  continuance  depended  solely  on  the 
pleasure  of  the  legislature.  Provision  was  made 
for  the  settlement  of  contested  lottery  claims 
among  the  white  citizens,  but  by  the  most  strin- 
gent enactments,  in  addition  to  the  sweeping 
law  which  forbade  anyone  of  Indian  blood  to 
bring  suit  or  to  testify  against  a  white  man,  it 
was  made  impossible  for  the  Indian  owner  to 


JUNALUSKA  11 

defend  his  right  in  any  court  or  to  resist  the 
seizure  of  his  homestead,  or  even  his  own  dwell- 
ing house,  and  anyone  so  resisting  was  made 
subject  to  imprisonment  at  the  discretion  of  a 
Georgia  court.  Other  laws  directed  to  the 
same  end  quickly  followed,  one  of  which  made 
invalid  any  contract  between  a  white  man  and 
an  Indian  unless  established  by  the  testimony 
of  two  white  witnesses — thus  practically  can- 
celing all  debts  due  from  white  men  to  Indians 
— while  another  obliged  all  white  men  residing 
in  the  Cherokee  country  to  take  a  special  oath 
of  allegiance  to  the  state  of  Georgia,  on  pen- 
alty of  four  years'  imprisonment  in  the  pen- 
itentiary, this  act  being  intended  to  drive  out 
all  the  missionaries,  teachers,  and  other  edu- 
cators who  refused  to  countenance  the  spolia- 
tion. About  the  same  time  the  Cherokee  were 
forbidden  to  hold  councils,  or  to  assemble  for 
any  public  purpose,  or  to  dig  for  gold  upon 
their  own  lands. 

The  purpose  of  this  legislation  was  to  render 
life  in  their  own  country  intolerable  to  the 
Cherokee  by  depriving  them  of  all  legal  protec- 
tion and  friendly  counsel,  and  the  effect  was 
precisely  as  intended.  In  an  eloquent  address 
upon  the  subject  before  the  House  of  Represen- 
tatives,   the    distinguished    Edward    Everett 


12  JUNALUSKA 

clearly  pointed  out  the  encouragement  which  it 
gave  to  lawless  men :  "They  have  but  to  cross 
the  Cherokee  line ;  they  have  but  to  choose  the 
time  and  the  place  where  the  eye  of  no  white 
man  can  rest  upon  them,  and  they  may  burn 
the  dwelling,  waste  the  farm,  plunder  the  prop- 
erty, assault  the  person,  murder  the  children 
of  the  Cherokee  subject  of  Georgia,  and  though 
hundreds  of  the  tribe  may  be  looking  on,  there 
is  not  one  of  them  that  can  be  permitted  to  bear 
witness  against  the  spoiler."  Senator  Sprague, 
of  Maine,  said  of  the  law  that  it  devoted  the 
property  of  the  Cherokee  to  the  cupidity  of 
their  neighbors,  leaving  them  exposed  to  every 
outrage  which  lawless  persons  could  inflict,  so 
that  even  robbery  and  murder  might  be  com- 
mitted with  impunity  at  noonday,  if  not  in  the 
presence  of  whites  who  would  testify  against  it. 
The  jjrediction  was  fulfilled  to  the  letter.  The 
Cherokee  appealed  to  President  Jackson,  but 
were  told  that  no  protection  would  be  afforded 
them.  Despairing  of  any  help  from  the  Presi- 
dent, the  Cherokee  addressed  an  earnest  me- 
morial to  Congress,  which  memorial  evidenced 
the  devoted  and  pathetic  attachment  with  which 
the  Cherokee  clung  to  the  land  of  their  fathers. 
Attempt  after  attempt  was  made  to  induce  the 
Cherokee,  to  remove  to  the  West,  but  they  re- 


JUNALUSKA  1 3 


fused  to  be  convinced  that  justice,  prosperity, 
and  happiness  awaited  them  beyond  the  Mis- 
sissippi. 

The  national  paper,  "The  Cherokee  Phoe- 
nix," was  suppressed  and  its  office  plant  seized 
by  a  guard.  Their  chief,  Gu'wisguwf  (John 
Ross),  was  arrested,  all  his  private  papers  be- 
ing taken  at  the  same  time,  and  conveyed  into 
Georgia,  where  he  was  held  for  some  time  with- 
out charge  against  him,  and  at  last  released 
without  apology  or  explanation. 

The  Cherokee  were  nearly  worn  out  by  con- 
stant battle  against  a  fate  from  which  they 
could  see  no  escape.  A  treaty  was  finally  drawn 
up  and  signed  on  December  29,  1835. 

Briefly  stated,  by  this  treaty  of  New  Echota, 
Georgia,  the  Cherokee  Nation  ceded  to  the 
United  States  its  whole  remaining  territory 
east  of  the  Mississippi  for  the  sum  of  five  mill- 
ion dollars  and  a  common  joint  interest  in  the 
territory  already  occupied  by  some  Cherokee 
who  had  moved  to  the  West  to  Indian  Territory, 
now  Oklahoma,  with  an  additional  smaller  tract 
adjoining  on  the  northeast,  in  what  is  now  Kan- 
sas. Improvements  were  to  be  paid  for,  and 
the  Indians  were  to  be  removed  at  the  expense 
of  the  United  States,  and  subsisted  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  government  for  one  year  after 


14  JUNALUSKA 

their  arrival  in  the  new  country.  The  removal 
was  to  take  place  within  two  years  from  the 
ratification  of  the  treaty. 

It  was  agreed  that  a  limited  number  of 
Cherokee  who  should  desire  to  remain  behind 
in  North  Carolina,  Tennessee,  and  Alabama, 
and  become  citizens,  having  first  been  adjudged 
''qualified  or  calculated  to  become  useful  cit- 
izens," might  so  remain,  together  with  a  few 
holding  individual  reservations  under  former 
treaties.  This  provision  was  allowed  by  the 
commissioners,  but  was  afterward  stricken  out 
on  the  announcement  by  President  Jackson  of 
his  determination  "not  to  allow  any  preemp- 
tions or  reservations,  his  desire  being  that  the 
whole  Cherokee  people  should  remove  to- 
gether. ' ' 

Provision  was  made  for  payment  of  debts  due 
by  the  Indians  out  of  any  moneys  coming  to 
them  under  the  treaty ;  for  the  reestablishment 
of  the  missions  in  the  West;  for  pensions  to 
Cherokee  wounded  in  the  service  of  the  gov- 
ernment in  the  war  of  1812  and  the  Creek  war ; 
for  permission  to  establish  in  the  new  country 
such  military  posts  and  roads  for  the  use  of 
the  United  States  as  should  be  deemed  neces- 
sary; for  satisfying  Osage  claims  in  the  west- 
ern territory  and  for  bringing  about  a  friendly 


JUNALUSKA  15 


understanding  between  the  two  tribes ;  for  the 
commutation  of  all  annuities  and  other  sums 
due  from  the  United  States  into  a  permanent 
national  fund,  the  interest  to  be  placed  at  the 
disposal  of  the  officers  of  the  Cherokee  Nation 
and  by  them  disbursed,  according  to  the  will 
of  their  own  people,  for  the  care  of  schools  and 
orphans,  and  for  general  national  purposes. 

The  principal  officers  of  the  Nation  were  not 
present  when  this  treaty  was  drawn  up.  Gu'- 
wisguwi'  and  the  national  delegates  presented 
protests  with  signatures  representing  nearly 
16,000  Cherokee,  but  the  treaty  was  ratified  by 
a  majority  of  one  vote  over  the  necessary  num- 
ber, and  steps  were  at  once  taken  to  carry  it 
into  execution. 

The  history  of  this  Cherokee  removal  of 
1838,  as  gleaned  from  the  lips  of  actors  in  the 
tragedy,  exceeds  in  weight  of  grief  and  pathos 
any  other  passage  in  American  history.  Even 
the  much-sung  exile  of  the  Arcadians  falls  far 
behind  it  in  its  sum  of  death  and  misery. 

Junaluska  accompanied  the  exiles  of  1838,  but 
afterward  returned  to  his  old  home  in  western 
North  Carolina.  He  was  often  heard  to  say: 
"If  I  had  known  that  Jackson  would  drive  us 
from  our  homes,  I  would  have  killed  him  that 
day  at  the  Horseshoe."    In  recognition  of  his 


16  JUNALUSKA 

services  the  state  legislature,  by  special  act,  in 
1847  conferred  upon  him  the  right  of  citizen- 
ship and  granted  to  him  three  hundred  and 
thirty-seven  acres  of  land  in  Graham  County, 
near  the  present  Kobbinsville. 

Junaluska  died  about  the  year  1858,  aged 
more  than  one  hundred  years.  They  laid  him 
under  the  trees  in  the  land  of  his  birth,  and 
"over  his  bed  the  wild  vines  lovingly  wove  a 
coverlid  of  softest  green.  All  his  woodland 
friends  gather  about  his  couch.  Forest  and 
hill  and  flower  and  cloud  sing  the  songs  he 
loved.  All  day  the  sunlight  lays  its  wealth  in 
bars  of  gold  at  his  feet,  and  at  night  the  moon- 
light things  and  the  shadow  things  come  out  to 
play. ' '  By  his  side  they  laid  Nicie,  his  wife.  A 
monument  was  erected  to  his  memory  in  1910, 
but  the  greatest  and  most  enduring  monuments 
of  this  far-famed  East  Cherokee  chief  are 
Mount  Junaluska,  bathed  in  the  everlasting 
sunshine  of  the  land  of  the  sky  or  wrapped  in 
mantles  of  untrodden  snow,  and  Lake  Juna- 
luska, which  nestles  at  its  base  and  from  its 
depths  reflects  as  a  vast  mirror  the  incompar- 
able splendors  of  the  surrounding  hills,  lofty 
mountains  and  gorgeous  sunsets. 


mp' 


They  laid  him  under  the  trees. 


Pag-e   16 


LAKE 
JUNALUSKA 

NORTH  CAROLINA 


LAKE    JUNALUSKA 


HE  Laymen's  Missionary  Movement 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
South,  at  its  Convention  in  Chatta- 
nooga, Tennessee,  in  April,  1908, 
took  into  consideration  the  question 
of  establishing  at  the  most  suitable 
place  a  great  permanent  Assembly 
such  as  would  meet  the  growing  need  of  the 
Church  for  rest,  recreation,  conference,  train- 
ing and  inspiration.  The  Executive  Committee 
of  the  Movement  was  empowered  to  establish 
such  an  Assembly.  The  Executive  Committee 
appointed  a  Committee  on  Location  to  look  thor- 
oughly into  such  questions  as  healthfulness, 
beauty,  comfort,  accessibility,  water  and  water- 
power  and  to  report.  This  Committee  visited 
various  places,  and,  after  long  and  careful  ex- 
amination into  the  elements  which  enter  into 
the  location  for  such  an  Assembly,  reported  in 
favor  of  Richland  Valley,  Haywood  County, 
North  Carolina.  On  the  basis  of  this  report  the 
Executive  Committee  took  up  the  whole  ques- 
tion and  confirmed  with  gratifying  unanimity 
the  choice  of  their  Committee  on  Location. 


20      LAKE     JUNALUSKA 


A  gigantic  pair  of  compasses,  with  one  point 
on  the  apex  of  Mount  Junaluska,  and  the  other 
at  Baltimore,  on  the  northeastern  border  of  the 
Southern  Methodist  territory,  would  describe  a 
circle  extending  from  the  shore  of  Lake  Erie 
to  the  shore  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  from 
the  border  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean  to  beyond  St. 
Louis,  Missouri.  There  is  no  place  east  of  the 
Mississippi  with  the  necessary  qualifications 
which  is  more  accessible  to  our  Southern  peo- 
ple than  Lake  Junaluska. 

It  is  in  the  center  of  the  most  beautiful  and 
fertile  section  of  the  mountains,  lying  on  the 
apex  of  the  Blue  Eidge  range,  twenty-eight  hun- 
dred feet  above  sea  level.  Within  a  radius  of 
fifty  miles  are  many  lofty  peaks  lifting  their 
heads  into  the  ethereal  blue,  while  numerous 
lesser  eminences  give  a  pleasing  contrast  and 
add  to  the  beauty  of  the  scene.  From  Point 
Junaluska  toward  the  gates  of  the  sunset  one 
sees  the  mountains  standing  round  about  like 
the  mountains  round  about  Jerusalem,  and 
Mount  Junaluska,  the  grandest  of  them  all,  in 
the  center  of  the  group,  pierces  the  sky. 

At  Lake  Junaluska  the  climate  is  sufficiently 
bracing  to  make  vigorous  exercise  of  body  and 
mind  a  joy,  and  to  insure  nightly  repose  with 
the  drapery  of  your  couch  about  you,  while 


LAKE     JUNALUSKA      21 

much  of  the  world  is  seeking  relief  from  the 
stifling  airs  of  the  lowlands. 

Scattered  about  this  region  are  numerous 
springs  of  cool,  pure,  sparkling  water  gushing 
from  the  mountains  hard  by,  and  Eichland 
Creek,  a  bold  stream,  once  divided  the  bound- 
ary of  more  than  a  thousand  acres  into  two 
nearly  equal  parts. 

Such  a  region  of  enchantment  was  the  home 
of  the  Cherokee,  whose  progeny  still  linger  in 
peaceful  possession  near  by,  and  this  was  the 
enchanted  spot  selected  by  the  Laymen's  Mis- 
sionary Movement  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  South,  to  gather  the  tribes  from  every 
part  of  the  Church  year  after  year. 

To  appreciate  Lake  Junaluska  fully,  one 
should  read  the  history  of  the  Cherokee  who 
roamed  these  mountains.  They  have  left  a 
memory  and  traditions  behind  them  which  still 
linger  in  this  district.  The  whole  country  is 
haunted  ground,  and  the  landscapes,  beautiful 
in  themselves,  become  twice  glorified  by  the 
glamour  thrown  around  and  about  them  by  the 
genius  of  the  story-teller. 

The  Committee  saw  this  valley  prepared  by 
the  Great  Architect  and  Builder,  and,  shutting 
their  eyes,  caught  a  vision  of  a  new-born  lake, 
along  whose  shores  multitudes  would  hear  and 


22      LAKE     JUNALUSKA 

answer  the  same  call  that  once  men  heard  by 
Galilee,  to  the  world's  remaking. 

In  the  summer  of  1913,  they  halted  Richland 
Creek  in  its  flow  through  an  upland  valley,  and 
in  three  weeks  the  valley  bore  on  its  breast  as 
charming  a  lake  as  any  that  reflect  the  skies  of 
Scotland,  England,  Switzerland  or  Italy.  It 
laved  the  feet  of  mountains  which  saw  in  its 
mirror  for  the  first  time  how  beautiful  they 
were.  The  water,  churned  almost  into  mist, 
dashed  over  the  spillway,  making  one  of  the 
most  beautiful  waterfalls  to  be  seen  among  the 
mountains. 

Around  the  lake  the  landscape  architect 
threw  a  looped  girdle  of  winding  road  over  six 
miles  in  length.  He  also  threw  loop  after  loop 
around  the  hills,  from  various  points  of  which 
the  most  beautiful  views  appear. 

Down  at  the  water's  edge  they  built  a  cir- 
cular steel  auditorium  capable  of  seating  forty- 
five  hundred.  A  number  of  cottages  and  public 
buildings  were  erected,  some  on  breeze-swept 
heights,  others  nestling  down  among  the  shady 
coves.  Beautiful  for  location  is  Junaluska  Inn, 
the  pride  of  the  Junaluskans. 

The  United  States  Bureau  of  Fisheries 
stocked  Lake  Junaluska  with  fishes,  and  fisher- 
men have  every  reason  to  rejoice  with  the  com- 


LAKE     J  U  N  A  LU  S  K  A      23 


ing  of  summer,  for  it  brings  promise  of  rare 
sport  along  its  banks.  There  we  have  the  royal 
basses  and  many  other  fishes  in  an  abundance 
that  makes  every  follower  of  Izaak  Walton 
happy. 

The  "Oonaguska,"  a  double-decked  steamer 
with  a  passenger  capacity  of  over  two  hundred, 
was  launched  on  August  22,  1914.  The  ' '  Oona- 
guska"  and  a  smaller  launch  make  excursions 
around  the  lake.  Often  these  excursions  are 
made  at  night,  when  the  moon  like  a  queen 
comes  forth  from  the  slow  opening  curtains  of 
the  clouds,  and  over  the  lake,  the  vales,  the 
hills,  the  mountains,  her  silver  mantle  throws. 

Many  enjoy  boating,  and  at  any  time  one 
can  look  out  and  see  numerous  boats  gliding 
over  the  surface  of  the  water.  Swimming, 
horseback  riding,  autoing,  tennis,  basket-ball, 
croquet,  baseball,  bowling  and  other  sports  are 
enjoyed  by  the  guests  and  lake-dwellers.  On 
October  24,  1916,  a  Golf  Club  was  organized, 
and  over  one  hundred  acres  of  land  was  selected 
by  experts  for  a  golf  course. 

Lake  Junaluska  is  within  easy  reach  of  many 
neighboring  places  of  interest  by  mountain 
trails,  carriages,  automobiles,  or  trains. 


A  TRIP  TO 
MOUNT  JUNALUSKA 

NORTH  CAROLINA 


A  TRIP  TO 
MOUNT  JUNALUSKA 


HE  trip  to  Mount  Junaluska,  eight 
miles  away,  is  often  taken  by  tramp- 
ing parties,  who,  in  the  early  morn- 
ing, before  the  sun  far  ascends  the 
eastern  slope,  are  wending  their 
way  over  vale  and  hill.  One  is 
compelled  to  exclaim, 

"Earth's  crammed  with  heaven, 
And  every  common  bush  afire  with  God." 

They  follow  the  trail  up  the  mountain  side, 
over  babbling  brooks,  through  dense  forest 
shade  beneath  canopies  where  filtering  sun- 
beams strain  their  way  through  incense-mak- 
ing boughs— on,  until  they  merge  from  the 
shadows  and  enter  a  scantily  wooded  section, 
from  which  point  can  be  seen  the  forests  man- 
tling the  mountain  sides  with  their  dark  green 
coats,  mottled  here  and  there  with  lighter  green, 
and  in  the  valley  below  the  town  of  Waynes- 
ville,  beautiful  for  situation.  Myriads  of  small 
winged  creatures — birds,  bees,  butterflies — give 
glad  animation  and  fill  the  air  with  music. 


28    MOUNT    JUNALUSKA 

The  air  of  these  uplands  is  a  perfect  tonic  to 
wasted  energies,  and  the  elixir  of  life  seems  to 
flow  with  new  vigor  through  torpid  veins. 

"Within  a  quarter  of  a  mile  of  the  summit  is 
Bogohama  (Water-of-Life),  a  crystal  spring, 
with  temperature  forty-five  degrees,  surrounded 
by  giants  of  the  forest,  rhododendron  in  pro- 
fusion, and  flowers  indigenous  to  the  clime. 
Here  the  trampers,  with  a  bountiful  supply  of 
lunch,  ask  "good  digestion  to  wait  on  appetite 
and  health  on  both." 

From  this  point  they  make  their  way  to  the 
top,  on  which  Eagle's  Nest  Hotel  is  perched. 
Here  one  gets  a  breath  of  the  ozone-laden  air  as 
it  comes  direct  from  the  top  of  the  Balsams, 
and  eyes  feast  upon  an  enchanting  panorama 
of  overpowering  sublimity.  Yonder  is  Plott's 
Balsam  and  Jones'  Knob,  and  toward  Great  Di- 
vide, a  myriad  of  peaks. 

Fortunate  the  sojourner  on  this  high  moun- 
tain platform  to  see  the  sun  rise,  sometimes 
over  a  billowy  sea  of  clouds  stirring  in  the 
dawn  around  those  mountain  masses  out  of 
which  the  peaks  appear,  and  set,  sinking  over 
the  peaks  softened  into  the  alpenglow  of  pink 
and  purple,  and  the  shooting  pillar  of  light  long 
after  it  is  dusk  below. 


LAKE     JUNALUSKA      29 


THER  wonderful  trips  are  to  Bal- 
sam, Cherokee,  Old  Bald,  Pisgah, 
Mount  Mitchell,  and  should  one  de- 
sire to  spend  a  day  or  so  in  the  midst 
of  the  wildest  mountain  scenery,  the 
Southern  Railway  penetrates  into 
the  very  heart   of  the   Nantahalas, 

far-famed  for  the  magnificent  grandeur  of  their 

scenery. 

Lovely  is  the  autumn  time  in  the  Lake  Juna- 
luska  region.  The  summer 's  green  is  first  sup- 
planted by  a  robe  of  barbaric  splendor,  reveal- 
ing all  the  hues  of  the  rainbow.  After  a  few 
visits  of  Jack  Frost,  these  colors  become  still 
more  vivid,  and  the  forests  seem  to  blaze  with 
the  glory  of  the  changing  season.  Then  the  col- 
ors become  somewhat  more  subdued,  and  the 
sourwoods  and  the  blackgums,  which  have  been 
holding  aloft  the  fiery  cross  of  revolt,  are  recon- 
ciled to  their  fate,  and  await  patiently  the  re- 
turn of  spring.  The  mountains  then  are  a  more 
somber  brown,  with  long  threads  of  balsam  and 
white  pine  woven  into  the  pattern  of  their 
quieter  robes.  As  years  go  by  permanent  Juna- 
luskans  will  enjoy  seeing  Nature  pour  new 
glory  on  the  woods  from  her  beakers  of  rich- 
est dyes. 


30      LAKE     JUNALUSKA 


HILE  opportunities  for  boating,  fish- 
ing, swimming,  mountain-climbing, 
and  excursions  to  neighboring  points 
are  pleasures  not  to  be  lightly  es- 
teemed by  those  who  are  in  the  habit 
of  spending  the  most  of  their  time  in 
solving  the  stern  problems  of  life, 
yet  recreation  is  not  the  main  object  for  which 
the  Assembly  was  established. 

The  old  Jewish  Church  had  its  holidays  and 
festivals.  Among  the  legitimate  factors  in  the 
work  of  exerting  the  desired  influence  and 
bringing  about  desired  results  was  the  social 
feeling  centering  in  the  innate  and  universal 
propensity  of  men  and  women  to  meet  together, 
to  look  each  other  in  the  eye,  to  exchange  opin- 
ions, and  to  engage  in  those  other  amenities 
which  are  so  highly  prized. 

The  camp-meetings  of  the  last  century  were 
partly  an  answer  to  the  demand  of  the  Church 
to  express  normally  the  age-old  social  feeling 
of  humanity.  Among  the  most  prized  inheri- 
tances possessed  by  those  who  attended  these 
camp-meetings  are  memories  interwoven  with 
social  experiences. 

The  successor  of  the  old-time  camp-meeting 
is,  in  a  sense,  the  modern  Chautauqua.     The 


■  ■     ■ 


LAKE     JUNALUSKA      31 

Methodist  Pjpiscopal  Church,  South,  had  long- 
needed  the  Southern  Assembly.  Lake  Junaluska, 
designed  to  be  the  meeting  place  of  the  best 
order  of  conferences,  the  homes  of  the  best  peo- 
ple, the  association  of  high-minded  men,  wo- 
men and  children,  is  destined  to  become  one  of 
the  great  prides  and  influences  of  our  land. 

There  is  a  feast  for  those  who  enjoy  the  high- 
est intellectual  entertainment.  At  Lake  Juna- 
luska we  have  had  some  of  the  ablest  speakers 
in  the  world,  men  of  extraordinary  power  to 
instruct,  move  and  inspire  large  audiences.  A 
number  of  gifted  musicians  have  charmed  their 
hearers.  In  the  not  distant  future  educational 
buildings  will  surmount  some  of  the  most  beau- 
tiful forest-clad  hills. 

And,  greatest  of  them  all,  Lake  Junaluska 
combines  with  physical,  social  and  intellectual 
refreshment,  edification  and  inspiration  for  the 
spiritual  man.  The  concerted  action  of  the  lead- 
ers of  our  great  Church  is  behind  the  establish- 
ment of  the  Southern  Assembly.  Missionary, 
Epworth  League,  Sunday-school  and  Evangel- 
istic meetings  have  been  conducted  at  Lake 
Junaluska  since  the  year  of  its  opening — 191o. 
The  moral  value  in  Christian  life  and  service  of 
this  great  Southern  Chautauqua  cannot  be  esti- 
mated.   Lake  Junaluska  is  in  deed  and  in  truth 


32      LAKE     JUNALUSKA 


the  central  powerhouse  from  which  currents  of 
spiritual  influence  go  out  to  all  parts  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South. 


